Comics Retailers Survey

Amazon, also a digital book retailing powerhouse, is a differ-ent story. Some of the retailers we spoke with suspect that thediscounts publishers are forced to take in order to distributethrough Amazon are causing them to price trade paperback andgraphic novels too high on the brick and mortar end. “The pric-ing on books continues to go up, and I don’t see a ceiling onthat,” says Bergen Street’s Tucker Stone. “It does seem more andmore like graphic novels that a few years ago were priced at$15.99 are now going into that $22.99 area—and the quality[of the physical book] is not improving.”Retailers are also concerned that Diamond, as currently struc-tured, is simply unable to match the rapid turnaround time thatAmazon is able to provide for its customers. “I feel like Amazonis simply doing it better,” says Portlyn Freeman. “It affects mysales in that I cringe when I have to tell someone that it maytake two to three weeks when you order with me because I can’tdo any better, when they can go to Amazon and get it in twodays.”

The Community Experience

At the end of the day, the retailers we spoke with don’t seethemselves as competing with Amazon. “It is what it is,” saysDave Pifer. “They’re not even in the same game at all.” Retailerssee themselves as doing something entirely different. “Thepeople we see want to pick up and hold a book, and flip throughit, before they purchase it, says Challenger’s W. Dal Bush. LeefSmith of Mission Comics knows he’s “not going to match any-one on price” and he’s not trying to. “I’m selling an experiencein a community. If people are looking for the cheapest price,they’re going to go someplace else. But if they want to have acommunity and be able to browse things before buying themor just like that ritual of coming into the store, they’ll do that.”While 2014 may have gotten off to a rough start for someretailers, there seems to be a general feeling that it’s an excitingtime to be in the comics retailing business. “Right now, you’renot going to do any better [than being ] at a place that sellsgraphic novels and comics, especially to children,” says TuckerStone. “There is so much to be gained from that. It’s an amazingexperience.” As book and comics publishing continues tochange at a rapid pace, by catering to a specific kind of cus-tomer or simply by becoming an integral part of the fabric ofthe local community, comics retailers are surviving and thriv-ing—and providing a valuable look at where the future ofAmerican comics and graphic novel publishing and retailingmay be heading. ■